Cylindrical sleeves or tubes of a heat-shrinkable material, such as pre-expanded polyvinyl chloride, have been used to protect, to decorate, to band and/or to label items of various shapes and sizes. The sleeves have been placed around the items and shrunk into substantial conformity therewith by the application of hot air from a heat gun or shrink tunnel. The sleeves have been printed with decorative, advertising, and/or labeling matter. Prior art disclosing this type of heat-shrinkable PVC sleeve includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,110,554 and 3,523,052.
There have been limitations in this method when one sleeve has been used to band two or more items of non-rectangular cross-section for sale as a single unit. The single sleeve encircling both items has not always been in sufficient contact with the items at their peripheries, especially at or near the plane at which the items interface. Often, shrunken sleeves conformed only to a generalized outer perimeter and left gaps at the interstices between the items. As a result, dust and other contaminants could accumulate in the gaps, detracting from the appearance of the items and reducing and in some cases destroying their value. The variety of shapes of items which could be banded was limited. Printing or labeling on the items or on the sleeve could appear somewhat distorted or illegible when the band did not conform smoothly and tightly to the surface. There was also the problem that when the band was broken to allow one item to be used, the second item would be without protection, or labeling, if the band had served as the label.